Velsch, Georg Hieronymus, editor.

Estimate

3,000 - 4,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Commentarius in Ruzname Naurus sive tabulae aequinoctiales novi persarum & turcarum anni. Augsburg: Theophilius Goebel, 1676

first edition, 4to (194 x 158mm.), engraved frontispiece and 22 plates, modern calf, some browning or spotting, 2 plates with imprint cropped

Literature

Houzeau & Lancaster, Bibliographie générale de l'astronomie, 1595; not in Atabey, Wilson, Ghani or Diba

Catalogue Note

A treatise on Turkish and Persian calendars, traditionally ascribed to the medieval astronomer Sheikh Abu'l Wafa (d.1493), and typographically, a tour de force. Based on a manuscript in the possession of Velsch (or Welsch), the extensive commentary gives an introduction to Turkish astronomy, discusses the oriental calendar, other manuscripts known at the time and comparative Western knowledge of the subject. The plates illustrate, inter alia, a globe, an Arabic astrolabe and oriental alphabets within intricate floral borders.